JackJumpers Out to Rewrite History

There’s no question history is against the JackJumpers in Game 3 on Wednesday night.

No team has ever come back from two-nil down in the Hungry Jack's Grand Final Series to win the championship.

But just try telling the JackJumpers their fairytale season could be about to come to a close.

Time and time again they’ve defied the odds and away from home in front of a huge Qudos Bank Arena crowd, with the series on the brink, the scene is set to create another chapter in an already amazing story.

“We’re upbeat. We know what we can do. We’ve been in this position before and there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t get game three,” Tasmania skipper Clint Steindl said.

“The boys are up and about … we’re going to be ready for it, there’s no doubt about that.

“Professional sports, anything can happen. You’ve just got to go in with the right mindset of ‘expect to win’ and anything can happen.”

A DJ Vasiljevic three-pointer at the death was the difference between Sydney and the JackJumpers in a thriller on Sunday, but Steindl is confident his team can turn the tables.

“We gained some momentum in Game 2 and improvements from the first game in Sydney,” he said. 

“We’re right there. There’s little things we can fix, but we’re gaining momentum.”

Tasmania coach Scott Roth said only a four-quarter performance would give his team a chance.

“We had moments in game one and we’ve had moments playing them (the Kings) all year of two or three good quarters. We just haven’t been able to get 40 minutes together,” Roth said. 

“They don’t give you a lot of chances to make mistakes. They capitalise on a lot of them and they’ve got really good players spread out.”

Sydney will be sweating on the fitness of Jaylen Adams, after the NBL’s Most Valuable Player missed game two with a hamstring injury.

But for the JackJumpers, their focus is closer to home. 

“We haven’t talked about him (Adams) since day one,” Roth said.

“It’s just all about us and what we’re doing and how we’re preparing. His name hasn’t been brought up. We don’t talk much about them (the Kings) other than some scouting stuff just in general.

“It’s more about just us being ready to compete. We’ve had breakdowns here and there during the course of the game (two) that are solvable. Those things are more important to me than personnel.

“They’ve (Sydney) got good players and our guys know them really well … we don’t really need to discuss too much about it.”

Steindl said the players would tackle the challenge as they have all season, united.

“One thing Scott keeps saying is ‘go there and celebrate the season’, whatever happens, happens, but we’re going to play the right way, we’re going to play for each other, continue to invest in each other, and whatever the result will be the result,” he added.

“We’re going out there to have a blast, we’re going to fly around, we’re going to do a job and hopefully we get it done.”

Game 3 tips-off at 7:30pm AEST on Wednesday night and will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies.